Terms of referral

Everyone involved in the Wessex and KSS Professional Support and Wellbeing Service (PSW) will support resident doctors and dentists in postgraduate training.

Resident doctors and dentists in postgraduate training should be aware of the following terms of referral to the Wessex and KSS Professional Support and Wellbeing Service (PSWS):

  1. Support from the PSWS is voluntarily accepted, but once a resident doctor or dentist has chosen to agree to the process, it is expected that they will engage. Failure to do is considered a professionalism issue, therefore the doctor’s referrer will be notified and this will be flagged up to the Programme Director and ARCP panel. However, no specific details will be shared with trainers or school without the doctor’s permission.
  2. The email address a doctor supplies will be used for all email correspondence. If the doctor changes their email address they must notify the Wessex PSWS immediately.
  3. Doctors should respond to any emails from the PSWS as soon as possible, ideally within 48 hours.
  4. Late cancellations should be avoided.
  5. Doctors should ensure they have the contact details of the person they are scheduled to meet, and should give as much notice and reschedule if difficulties are anticipated. If a doctor has an urgent problem they should contact PSWS, to enable them to assist by contacting the person they are due to meet, on their behalf.
  6. Doctors should be released by their employer to attend meetings during working hours, when given at least seven days’ notice.
  7. Doctors will not be expected to attend meetings on a day when they are on call. If a doctor is Less than full-time (LTFT), we will try to arrange to see you on a normal working day, but that will not always be possible. Please inform the PSWS if your employer is not supporting your release to attend for PSWS support
  8. Draft documents or reports are often sent for checking. Doctors should review draft reports and reply within 48 hours of receipt. Doctors should help by notifying the PSWS of any lack of availability, to avoid the trainee being chased further until their return.
  9. Any previous PSWS referral information and notes will be shared with the PSWS triage team and the allocated case manager.
  10. Expert reports will be shared with a doctor’s case manager and/or exam support lead. The doctor should be copied into all relevant correspondence.
  11. Reports are not shared with those directly involved in a doctor’s training without their consent, unless there are serious patient safety concerns or the doctor’s health is felt to be at risk. The initial meeting form is shared with your referrer with your consent.
  12. All files are stored securely (electronically) and are only accessible by the PSWS team.
  13. Doctors should direct any complaints, disputes or concerns (in writing) to the South-East Associate Dean for Professional Support.
  14. The South-East Associate Dean for Professional Support will consider all complaints, disputes or concerns they receive, and provide a reply (in writing) within five working days.